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Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Pastor Arrested for Playing Christian Music

Azim Shariat, formally a Muslim and now a Christian Pastor, attended a new year's festival in an Orange County, California public park. He took out his portable radio/cassette player and began playing Christian music. Someone among the predominantly Muslim attendees complained to the police, who arrested Shariat for violating a county sound ordinance, despite all the other equipment playing music throughout the park.

The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is representing Shariat. The president of PJI, Brad Dacus, noted "Religious intolerance is not confined to dark corners of the world like Iran - it is on the prowl in Orange County. We are hopeful that the Court of Appeals will heed the warning signs and vindicate Pastor Shariat."